The Swiss painter Hodler died in 1918 which makes this current year the 100th anniversary of his decease. To mark the occasion Jaeger-LeCoultre has released three special limited edition watches bearing some of his memorable artwork. Introducing the “Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Métiers Rares Tribute Enamel Hodler” and its miniature enamel paintings.

Image courtesy of: Jaeger-LeCoultre

For those unfamiliar with Ferdinand Hodler he was one of Switzerland’s most respected artists. His paintings ranged from portraits, to landscapes and genre paintings in a realistic style. While in later years he adopted a personal form of symbolism he himself referred to as “parallelism”, which consisted on a unique mixture of symbolism and art nouveau genres.

Earlier this year we covered the release of a series of Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso models featuring paintings by such iconic painters as: Georges Seurat, Xu Beihong and Katsushika Hosukai. A closer look at some of their artworks and those JLC offerings with a brief review can be found here.

And before that we also wrote up a review on this homage piece to the great late Dutch painter Van Gogh, with the “Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso in Tribute Vincent Van Gogh” you can read more about that one here.

The iconic reversible Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso case here is offered in a 27.4mm diameter made out of 18k white gold with a solid case back. It’s overall the standard tonneau shaped case JLC has made us accustomed to, equipped with a setting-crown with the JLC logo engraving on it. And each dial of the reversible case is covered by a scratch resistant sapphire crystal, which assists with water-resistance on this watch reaching up to 30 meters (98 feet).

Image courtesy of: Jaeger-LeCoultre

The dial-side of “Reverso Tribute Enamel” that tells time has been crafted with a specialty machine and technique with a proven track record of over 100 years, producing refined guilloché work that creates a unique woven effect. Afterwards the dial has been covered in a translucent layer of enamel matching the most prominent color tones of the painting represented on the reverse side via this ancient Grand Feu enamel technique.

Image courtesy of: Jaeger-LeCoultre

It employs 18k white gold applied hour index markers and dauphine style central hands, followed by a printed minute track with its minute index markers following the contours of the rectangular case.

Image courtesy of: Jaeger-LeCoultre

Once we’ve read the time by flipping to the other side we’ll uncover a dial exhibiting one of either three of these selected paintings by Ferdinand Hodler: “Lake Geneva with Mont Blanc in the Morning Light” (1918), “Lake Thun with Symmetric Reflections Before Sunrise” (1904) and “Lake Thun Symmetric Reflection” (1909). These reproductions were also made possible with the combination of guilloché and miniature painting.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Métiers Rares Tribute To Ferdinand Hodler

This “Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Métiers Rares Tribute To Ferdinand Hodler” (Ref#: N/A) is powered by a hand-wound mechanical movement, caliber 822A/2 with 19 jewels, 109 parts and 21,600 Vph. Power reserve on this watch can last up to 38 hours, when fully wound.

Mounted to the watch is a black crocodile strap with exposed stitching, secured to the wrist by an 18k white gold pin buckle. Each of these three models will be limited to 8 timepieces per edition for a grand total of 24 timepieces dedicated to Hodler. For more up to date information visit the official Jaeger-LeCoultre website here.

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